Tip: How To Share Google Reader Posts On Google+

If you use Google Reader to access your RSS feeds, you’ve probably noticed that the built-in “sharing” feature does not export those shares to Google+. However, you can manually share Reader items on Google+ if you are using a desktop or laptop browser. This tip does not work with Safari and the iPad or iPhone.

This “Share” box exists on all Google services that I tested, which means you can use this tip to share photos, YouTube clips or links that you find using Google search, for example. For this example, I’m sharing from GoogleReader, but the process is the same across Google services.

(1) When you are logged into Google services, there is a “black bar” across the top of the browser:

(2) Click “Reader” to shift to that service. Notice that the placement of thin red bar (“you are here”) changes and “Reader” becomes bold type:

(3) When you find an article you’d like to share on Google+, shift your eyes to the top-right. You’re looking for the “Share” option on the Google services bar. This “Share” option exists on all Google services that I tested:

(4) Once you click the “Share” box, the interface looks like it does on Google+ : share a comment, a photo, a link, a YouTube clip:

(5) However, just because you are reading a specific article … that the article title or link will not automatically populate the share box (which was my hope):

(6) On Windows, you can supposedly drag-and-drop the link into the Google Share box. I was not able to drag-and-drop from any of the tested browsers on the MacOS. Instead, I did this the old-fashioned way: right-click, save link, paste into the Google+ Share link box, click “add”:

(7) Type your commentary into the text box above the shared link, then click “Share”. Success!

Thanks to David Vielmetter for inspiration.

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